Eastern Sri Lanka poll 'relatively violence-free'

The poll to elect a maiden provincial council in eastern Sri Lanka ended on a 'relatively violence-free note' with nearly 60 percent of about one million voters exercising their franchise, the election commission said Saturday.

'According to reports received at the close of the poll, the estimated voter turnout was approximately 65 percent, 55 percent and 60 percent in Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee respectively. Counting has commenced for postal votes,' the election department said.

An assistant commissioner of the election department at Rajagriya in Colombo told IANS Saturday evening that though there were reports of poll-related violence in all three districts in the eastern province, 'they were not serious in nature'.

'There were no immediate reports of 'serious poll-related violence' that could affect the overall outcome of the poll. We, however, have to wait for the zonal reports, which would be out only after the ballot boxes are opened for counting,' he said on condition of anonymity.

'Overall, I would say, the poll is relatively violence free,' he said, adding that the final result for the council would not be released if there was any re-polling due to malpractices.

However, the opposition parties such as the United National Party (UNP), the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) have charged that the poll was largely marred by violence, including rigging, impersonation, assault and intimidation instigated by pro-government mobs.

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http://www.indiaenews.com/srilanka/20080510/117229.htm

Launch of Wimal Weerawansa's party on May 14

JVP breakaways Wimal Weerawansa and Nandana Gunatilake will launch their political party in Colombo on May 14th, an activist in their political movement said..

There will be 350 invitees when the new movement, which is yet to be given a name, makes its debut at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies at the BMICH.

Messrs. Weerawansa and Gunatilake are due to meet the Elections Commissioner on the previous day to register it as a recognized political party.

May 14, 2008 is of special significance to the JVP, as the day marks the 43rd anniversary of the leftist party founded by the late Rohana Wijeweera.

An events organizing firm has been entrusted with the propaganda and other activities in connection with the occasion, the spokesman said.

Extracted from,
http://www.lankaeverything.com/vinews/politics/20080511012803.php

“Col” Karuna may face deportation

Rebel LTTE leader “Col” Karuna Amman, who was serving a jail sentence here after being found guilty of travelling to the U.K. on an allegedly forged Sri Lankan passport, was on Friday released and transferred to an immigration detention centre pending a decision on whether he should be deported back to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan High Commission sources said they had not received any request to issue travel documents that would enable it to deport ``Col” Karuna. Human rights groups want him to be tried for war crimes following allegations that his Tamileela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) which he formed after breaking away from LTTE in 2004 was involved in murders, torture and abductions.

The BBC quoted the Crown Prosecution Service, responsible for prosecuting criminal cases in England and Wales, as saying that according to the police there was “insufficient evidence” to provide a realistic prospect of his conviction.

Extracted from,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/10/stories/2008051055031800.htm

Is president Rajapaksa a terrorist?

President Mahinda Rajapakse stands out as the only president in Sri Lanka who has to face an avalanche of acrimony hatred, demonisation and insult. He is blamed for every trouble that occurs in our strife-torn island for some of which he is not responsible at all.

The J.V.P in their May Day rally referred to Mahinda Rajapakse as the terrorist in the south while Vellupillai Prabakaran was the terrorist in the north. J.V.P’s trade-union leader Parliamentarian K.D. Lalkantha said that the J.V.P. trade unions had a big responsibility at hand in the near future to carry out two general strikes against these two destructive elements.

"The working class of the country has to launch trade union actions against the Eelam terrorist who is hell-bent on snatching away a part of our mother land. We also have to defeat the financial terrorist who was elected to power by the people and plundering public funds. The J.V.P. gave them a chance to correct themselves by exposing various corruptions, financial irregularities and embezzlements.

But they failed to use the chance. Hence it is time to defeat both terrorists, Vellupillai Prabakaran and Mahinda Rajapakse"

Of all the acrimonious charges leveled against president Rajapakse, the one by parliamentarian Lalkantha of the J.V.P was perhaps the worst. Some of the other charges leveled against Rajapakse is the inability of his government to control the cost of living and the galloping rate of inflation, the charges of corruption nepotism wastage, the abuse of human-rights, abductions internal and external displacements and killing of civilians in the on going war.

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http://www.island.lk/2008/05/10/features3.html

Woman and child wounded in LTTE mortar attack- Bakmitiyawa

LTTE terrorists mounted an indiscriminate 81 mm mortar shell attack at a civilian settlement at Pannalgama general area in Bakmitiyawa, Damana today(may 10), injuring 4 people including a woman and a child, at around 7.15a.m., sources reveal.

According to latest reports received, terrorists have fired 7 mortar bombs at the Pannalgama civilian settlement, what was said to be another attempt of LTTE to flush the settlers from their native lands. The injured child was said to be a 10-year old, informed sources said.

According to Damana Police, an injured civilian was rushed to the Tottama rural hospital. Security has been tightened in the area as combined Army and Police search teams were dispatched to the scene.

Pannalgama is located approximately 25km South East of Damana

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http://defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080510_05

Cargo Vessel sinks due to underwater Explosion at Trincomalee Harbour

A cargo vessel (A 520/ex-MV Invincible) was damaged and sank in an underwater explosion which occurred at the Trincomalee Harbour today (10th May 2008) around 2.15 a.m.

The vessel was berthed at the Ashroff Jetty at the time of the incident and had a skeleton crew on board for routine operational purposes. The crew suffered no casualties and no other properties were damaged due to the explosion.

The old vessel built in 1971 was known as MV Invincible. It was handed over to the Navy by a court order after it had been apprehended and retained by the authorities while it was engaged in smuggling migrants.

News from,
http://www.navy.lk/index.php?id=798
Photo,
http://www.navy.lk/slideshow/gallery/2005/2005_09_25/2.jpg

Congress demands extension of ban on LTTE

The Congress, a key constituent of the DMK-led DPA in Tamil Nadu, today demanded extension of the ban on outlawed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Speaking on the demand for grants for Home Department in the State Assembly, Mr K R Ramasamy of Congress said the ban on LTTE, imposed in the aftermath of the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991, was scheduled to expire soon.

''The State Government should recommend to the Centre and ensure that the ban on the LTTE is extended,'' he added. Earlier, initiating the debate, P K Sekar Babu of the main Opposition AIADMK recalled the recent incidents and alleged that the law and order had deteriorated in the state.

Recalling how the previous AIADMK regime headed by Ms J Jayalalithaa had dealt with extremism with iron hand and rooted out LTTE activities and other Tamil extremist outfits in the state, he said incidents of violence, mercenary killings, burglaries and dacoities were on the rise.

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11 innocent civilians killed, over 25 wounded in LTTE bomb explosion - Ampara

Eleven innocent civilians were killed while over 25 injured when the LTTE terrorists exploded a bomb inside the "New City Cafe" hotel in Ampara town this evening, May 09.

The explosion took place around 5.45 p.m and the victims who received injuries were rushed to the Ampara hospital, sources said.

This is another cowardly attempt of the LTTE terrorists to disrupt the normalcy in the area as the government scheduled to head the provincial council election tomorrow to establish the democracy in the eastern province.

News and Photos from,
http://defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080509_07

Sri Lanka to hunt for oil onshore after gas find

Sri Lanka is to start searching for oil onshore after the accidental discovery of gas seeping from the ground, government officials said.
Petroleum minister A H M Fowzie said Friday the government has received technical support from Egypt to start the initial exploration work.

The accidental discovery of signs of gas were near the Munneswaram Kovil, a famous Hindu temple, in the northwestern Chilaw area, adjacent to the waters of the Mannar Basin, where offshore exploration blocks have been offered.

"We have learned that there are signs of petroleum reserves in the onshore areas in Chilaw," Fowzie told a news conference.

"We have asked for and received assistance from Egypt after my talks there in April to do the initial surveys."

Egypt has sent three technical experts from the Egyptian oil ministry who visited the Chilaw area and studied data on previous oil exploration work.

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http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?nid=1089866813

Armed group releases underage recruits as vital election nears

The Karuna faction, the Tamil Tiger breakaway group, which has been transforming itself from an armed military group into a political party, released 39 underage recruits in April 2008.

The group, officially known as the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP), released 28 children on 24 April after 11 were let go on 11 April.

The TMVP was formed by the former eastern military commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan, alias Karuna, after he broke away from the Tigers in April 2004. It now controls all nine local governing divisions in its native Batticaloa District in eastern Sri Lanka following a clean sweep in elections on 10 March, and is contesting the Eastern Provincial Council election on 10 May as a coalition partner of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance.

The TMVP is now led by Karuna’s chief lieutenant Sivasuntharai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, the party’s candidate for the chief minister of the province, who has taken pains to rehabilitate the party's image.

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Suspected terrorists held, ammunition seized in Tamil Nadu

Increased surveillance of Tamil Nadu's southeastern coast have resulted in the arrest of two suspected terrorists and the seizure early Friday of a boat laden with contraband ammunition bound for northern Sri Lanka, police said.

The consignment recovered off the coast of Rameshwaram, about 600 km from state capital Chennai, consisted of explosives, batteries and camouflage attire.

'The operation began Thursday evening and lasted till well past midnight. To our knowledge, the arrests were made and ammunition seized, a very common occurrence here. However, we did not seek further details,' said a coast guard official.

Officials said this was a consequence of the central government's beefing up of coastal security.

'The centre has created the Coastal Security Scheme (CSS) to stop intrusions and other nefarious activities. Seven marine police stations, built at a cost of Rs.30.92 million in the first phase out of a total outlay of Rs.440.08 million meant for Tamil Nadu, will keep watch over our 12 nautical mile territorial waters,' Additional Director General of Police (CSS) Jagan Sheshadhri told IANS.

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http://www.indiaenews.com/india/20080509/116914.htm

KARUNA SENT FROM A JAIL TO AN IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTER

Karuna Amman alias Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan , the former leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) has been released from a British jail and detained in an immigration centre, May 8.

British Home Ministry source said, “ He is detained under immigration powers of the government.”
It is customary for the British authorities to request the Sri Lanka High Commission in London to issue temporary travel documents for him to be deported to Sri Lanka. Those travel documents are different from a passports and a limited to a piece of paper carrying the photograph of the traveller. Sri Lanka High Commission sources in London said so far they have not received a request for the issuance of such a document from the British Home Office.

He fled to Britain, where his wife Vidhyawathie and her three children are living in London and got arrested, November 2 2007 for travelling with a forged diplomatic passport. He was later convicted on the offence and spent time in the jail.

Political analysts say the breakaway of Colonel Karuna, the man who was in charge of the Eastern Province under the LTTE was the beginning of the end of the Tamil terrorist outfit. After his departure the LTTE lost the sprawling Eastern Province to Sri Lanka government security forces. Karuna’s departure is believed to have supplied a pot of gold in intelligence to the Sri Lankan forces to drive away the Tamil Tigers from the province.

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http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items08/090508-1.html

Army captures Adampan Town - Mannar front

Sri Lanka Army soldiers fighting against terrorists on the Mannar front, captured Adampan town area this morning, May 09, defence sources said.

At least 15 terrorists were killed in hours long fighting erupted between security forces and the terrorists in the area, Media Center for National Security (MCNS) said.

Two army soldiers made their supreme sacrifice of the motherland while 7 others suffered injuries, MCNS further said.

Army liberated about 2 square kilometers area, lies between the Neelachcheana road and the dam of the Adampan tank, in the South of Adampan town, following after hours long fighting in last evening.

Extracted from,
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080509_02

Sri Lanka allows foreign media to cover council polls

Sri Lankan government today yielded to the demands of foreign media to allow them to cover this weekend's Eastern Provincial council elections after initial hesitation due to security fears.

"Our apprehensions were only that the foreigners should be protected during the elections. We wanted them to be free from any danger of any possibility of LTTE attack," a defence official told agencies.

"The issue has been sorted out. We have decided to allow the foreigners to cover the elections on producing a valid Media I-card," the official said.

Earlier, it was decided that any foreigner not registered as an election observer cannot be allowed in the Eastern province during the polls. The defence ministry intervened following the objections and decided to reverse the planned restrictions.

Fierce clashes between the Sri Lankan security forces and the LTTE has led to the death of more than 70,000 people since 1983. The government fully liberated the eastern part of the country from the Tamil rebels last July.

Campaigning for the Eastern Provincial Council Elections, scheduled for May 10, ended last night.

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http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=441880&sid=SAS